Off The Menu

By FLORENCE FABRICANT

Published: March 14, 2012

CORRECTION APPENDED

Opening

BRASSERIE PUSHKIN Andrey Dellos, who has opened this elaborate Russian restaurant on West 57th Street, founded Caf?ushkin in Moscow 13 years ago to resolve a common misperception -- generated by a popular French song -- that there was already such a cafe. Mr. Dellos, 56, who trained as an artist, said his cafe, in a 19th-century Russian mansion, is ''a fairy tale.'' The New York version, on several floors, suggests Versailles, not the Kremlin, with carved wood and plasterwork in voluptuous 18th-century style, gilded sconces and a huge chandelier.

The menu -- directed by Andrey Makhov, the executive chef of the Maison Dellos company, with Jawn Chasteen, who is from Ohio, running the kitchen -- is clearly rooted in Russian tradition, though its accent is also French. Offerings include classics like sturgeon galantine, blini with caviar, and meat in aspic, as well as modern fare like tuna tartare, and a Caesar salad with chicken Kiev. Other tastes of Russia include a hearty borscht, pelmeni dumplings, delicate pojarski cutlet paved with tiny croutons, and pastry-wrapped piroshki, like Russian empanadas. The elaborate desserts, often traced with gold, are by Emmanuel Ryon, who is French (and it shows).

The ground floor of the restaurant has a retail pastry counter that will become a vodka, caviar and seafood bar in the evening. Later this year, Mr. Dellos plans to open a restaurant called Manon at 407 West 14th Street and plans for a couple of Pushkin pastry shops in chic neighborhoods: 41 West 57th Street, (212) 465-2400.

CAFF?VITA AND VIA TRIBUNALI Next to each other, these two are Seattle transplants: a coffee shop that roasts on the premises and a Neapolitan pizzeria with a wood-burning oven and more than 20 pizzas, many antipasti and a few pastas: Caff?ita at 124 Ludlow Street, (212) 260-8482; Via Tribunali at 122 Ludlow Street, (Rivington Street), (212) 260-8742.

CLYDE FRAZIER'S WINE AND DINE This vast restaurant, bar and lounge pays homage to the former New York Knicks guard-turned-sportscaster. It highlights his sartorial splendor with ceiling panels representing some of his 125 or so brightly patterned suits, and his career, with a wood-paneled room equipped with a hoop and regulation foul line that diners will be able to use. But ''it is not a sports bar,'' said Michael Weinstein, whose company, Ark Restaurants, owns it in partnership with Walt Frazier, whose nickname is Clyde. David Waltuck, the former chef and an owner of Chanterelle, is tweaking sports-bar clich?like guacamole, which he gives Asian seasonings. Other dishes include steamed seafood dumplings, Thai grilled calamari, hearth-baked pizzas and blackened salmon. Mr. Frazier's signature style really kicks in on the list of cocktails, with names like Movin' and Groovin' (tequila, grapefruit and lime) and Dancing and Prancing (bourbon, apricot jam and sage). Mr. Frazier said he was looking forward to ''meetin' and greetin.' '' (Opens Friday): 485 10th Avenue (37th Street), (212) 842-1110.

GO!GO!CURRY! This chain, based in Japan, where it has 42 restaurants, opens its second in New York. And for that occasion, on Thursday, it will sell curry for 55 cents a portion. That price is in honor of the Oakland A's Hideki Matsui, whose jersey number is 55. But the bargain will be offered for only 555 portions, all because the number five, or ''go,'' is considered lucky: 231 Thompson Street (Bleecker Street), (212) 505-2555.

LE BERNARDIN LOUNGE A new three-course lunch menu, $45, is being served in the lounge, with a $5 donation to City Harvest as part of the price: 155 West 51st Street, (212) 554-1515.

Closed

ROMERA Miguel S?hez Romera, a Spanish neurologist and chef, has ended this ambitious entry into the New York market, with elaborate tasting menus.

Looking Ahead

BROOKLYN FARE This Boerum Hill food market, with a Michelin three-star restaurant serving tasting menus in its kitchen, will open a branch in Manhattan this summer. Its nearly 11,000 square feet will house a market and a 60-seat restaurant for small plates. In a wine cellar, the chef, C?r Ramirez, will prepare tasting menus for up to 10 people twice a week. The Brooklyn parent will remain open: 431-39 West 37th Street.

MP TAVERNA Michael Psilakis has found success with his Greek brasserie in Roslyn, N.Y., so he is cloning it in a Westchester village in May. This summer in Queens, he will open a bigger one: 1 Bridge Street, Irvington, N.Y.; 31-29 Ditmars Boulevard, Astoria, Queens.

REYNARDS Andrew Tarlow, the owner of Marlow & Sons and Diner in Williamsburg, will serve whole-animal dinners with local produce at the new Wythe Hotel, in a recycled industrial building near the Brooklyn waterfront: 80 Wythe Avenue (North 11th Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Chefs on the Move

CHARLES BOWMAN, who was the chef at Periyali when it opened 24 years ago and who left in 1999, has returned.

JULIEN JOUHANNAUD, who has been the executive chef at Alain Ducasse's Adour in the St. Regis hotel in Washington, assumes that post in the New York restaurant, also in the St. Regis, replacing Didier Elena, who left last month. Mr. Jouhannaud has worked with Mr. Ducasse for more than 10 years, and next month, in collaboration with Mr. Ducasse, he will start a menu emphasizing lightened French classics, including lobster bisque, royale (a custard) of white mushrooms, turbot Dugl?, fillet of sole Grenobloise, and duck ?'orange.

ZACHARY KELL has moved from Clinton Street Baking Company, where he was chef de cuisine, to become the executive chef at Community Food and Juice, a sibling on the Upper West Side.

JOSHUA SMOOKLER is the new chef at Zutto, in TriBeCa, where he has created a Japanese-American izakaya-style menu.

PHOTO: VERSAILLES ON THE VOLGA: From left, the owner, Andrey Dellos, and his chefs, Emmanuel Ryon and Andrey Makhov. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MARILYNN K. YEE/THE NEW YORK TIMES)

Correction: March 21, 2012, Wednesday

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: A report in the Off the Menu column last Wednesday about Clyde Frazier's Wine and Dine, using information from the restaurant, omitted the names of two of the artists who are creating a video project that is displayed on television screens in the bar and lounge, when they are not showing sports. Besides Kathy Brew, who is overseeing the project, the other collaborators are Hisao Ihara, the principal creator of the videos, and Roberto Guerra.